Looming budget cuts have forced the University to put some capital projects on hold.
But renovations of Chancellor Holden Thorp’s house are proceeding as planned — and they carry a price tag of $165,627.
The two projects, which are scheduled to be completed within the next few weeks, will construct a large back porch at the Quail Hill residence and renovate a cottage on the property.
The University paid for the $115,927 porch renovation with funds reserved annually for projects that are not budgeted at the beginning of the year, said Dick Mann, vice chancellor for finance and administration.
He said the project was small enough to be covered by the funds.
“This was inexpensive enough,” Mann said. “Had this been a million-dollar project we probably couldn’t do it.”
He added that the funding was not appropriated from the state legislature.
“Eighty-something percent of state funds go to salaries,” he said. “So we don’t have a lot of non-salary, expendable, (state) dollars.”
The renovation became necessary after a state law was passed forbidding large tents from being attached to state-owned buildings, said Nancy Davis, associate vice chancellor for university relations.
These kinds of tents were used to accommodate the large crowd of guests often invited to the chancellor’s residence, she said.
